Notes from Writers Festival

Having missed the Spring 2012 Ottawa International Writers' Festival, it was good to get into the autumn events. Sadly I couldn't make the Ottawa premiere of Midnight's Children (of which have heard only positive reviews!), but started my autumn festival with the All In A Day Songwriters' Circle. Being a relative newbie to Ottawa, I know of Lynn Miles by name but not a whole lot more. Friday 26th was both a celebration of her quarter-century making music and for me, an educative evening as well. A thoroughly entertaining evening with lots of clips from CBC Radio archives, messages from friends and a cross-section of Miles' prodigious output. I particularly enjoyed 'Love Doesn't Hurt', 'Hockey Night In Canada', and You Don't Love Me Anymore', as well as a guest appearance by Sarah Slean performing 'The Right Words'.

Of the New Science series, Jacob Berkowitz' presentation of The Stardust Revolution was really interesting and very accessible (especially? for a Sunday afternoon). Something of an hour's brief history of the universe and the role of stars therein. Parents take note - Berkowitz' children's books (on display in the Writers Festival bookstore) look very, very good. By comparison, Mario Beauregard had a few interesting points but his overall thesis was much more tenuous - and controversial, too, given some of the questions and comments at the end.

My final event earlier tonight was Eschatos, a Live Radio Play by David O'Meara, Ian Keteku, Jennilee Murray, Mike Dubue with Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde on cello. I missed Mike Dubue's last collaboration with Writers' Festival so had no expectation for this evening. Eschatos was brilliant - a series of sketches based on the theme of the apocalypse/ end of the world with live sound effects as well as an interweaving score performed by Dubue and Dostaler-Lalonde. Incredibly atmospheric and lots of great lines - a great event for the final night.

A short outside report from Thursday 25th's book launch of The Natural History of Canadian Mammals by Donna Naughton - an excellent book and a really fun evening, if a little bit strange as most of the audience seemed to be friends of the author. More like a front room than an auditorium but still a really interesting event.

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